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WTFWTK 2.27 - Ask your questions here!

Rules for What The Fans Want To Know:

Each user is limited to 1 question per Q&A.

Posts that repeat questions from other Q&As or from earlier in this thread, or posts that contain multiple questions, will be deleted and the offending user will no longer be permitted to participate in that particular Q&A. So check to see if your question has been asked and help everyone out!
Be sure to check the posts in this thread before you, as well as previous Q&A sessions!

This is for question submission only; not discussion.

We will start a new Q&A thread when it is time for more questions, approximately every 2 weeks. So please don't start new Q&A threads.

The figures that can be produced are figures that were in the original MOTU, POP and NA lines, as well as in the mini-comics for these lines.
Characters that appeared in the 2002 MYP cartoon are also fair game.
Filmation characters are off limits!
Who will be produced will remain to be seen.

We will pick up to 5 questions we feel might get answers at that time. Please do not take offense to your question not being asked.
Also, we also edit questions to make them more concise, to be more specific, etc. Please take no offense to this either, as it's only meant to help.
It's nothing personal.

***Important note: Mattel has now limited the questions to 5 from each site who submits Q&As.

This past round of questions were selected by joseephus,
and proofed against old Q&As by Uncle Montork.
Thanks to them for their help!!!

The questions that were asked in the previous Q&A & will be answered in a couple weeks as follows (please do not repeat them, or questions from previous Q&As):

1. Grenadaspice: When you produce a MOTUC Man-E-Faces, may we expect to see a "Man-E-Weapons" version of him as well?

2. King Tycho: Many fans are unhappy with the way our opinions are tabulated. In particular, the SDCC "voting sessions". Fans at SDCC are not representative of fans as a whole. Wouldn't it be preferable to handle all fan input through polls and feedback online, on sites such as Mattycollector and He-man.org? (A perfect example is the flocking of Panthor, where every poll online reveals that a vast majority of fans want him to be flocked)

3. Lord of Destruction: Why was Green Goddess named Sharella when this was originally the name of an unreleased character, a tribal chieftess who helped train He-Ro? We understand that He-Ro's origin was altered for MOTUC, but Sharella and the Goddess were not originally the same character.

4. Kinghsss456: According to the new MOTUC bio, Scareglow is one of the "most evil warriors in the five dimensions." Would you please tell us the names of the five dimensions, and how soon will we see the other evil warriors from the other dimensions? And is there a corresponding heroic warrior from each dimension?

5. badmouse: Before sculpting any of the figures, do the Four Horsemen design everything on paper? If so, in the near future will you show us that concept art and those design illustrations?

It's been stated that all female figures will use the same basic body, how will this affect a possible Veena figure since she is supposed to be barefoot and have an exposed midriff? Will her outfit be altered or would she receive different tooling?

"How I loathe heroes! Always getting in the way and acting so... so... heroic!"

If/when Catra is released, will she have an Evil Horde sticker on her bubble? Or some kind of extra touch to indicate that she's a member? I know the figures never did, but that's how almost everyone thinks of her.

There have been a few issues with the subscription service. No one knew what was going on with Webstor and now none of us have been given a shipping notice for Teela.

As subscribers we joined up to guarantee the figures but there has been nothing but trouble with bonus figures not included and a general lack of information. We were under the impression that, as subscribers, we would be given priority and special treatment over non-subscribers but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Can you open up more of a dialogue between Matty and the Subscribers to answer any questions that arise every week/month?

Based on 2009 subscription experiences a lot of people are thinking about if they are really going on with 2010 subscription, at this moment all that is offered is a not very good service, an extra figure and a folded poster map that hardly can be enough compensation for fans that are going to buy bonus figures and spend a lot of aditional money in extra shipping costs. May we expect some news on the exclusive offers or extras for 2010 subscribers before January? We just want to know if the subscription will worth the money we are going to pay. Thanks

Does Mattel 's market strategy include these conditions:
use of recycled plastics for the action figures, non toxic colors for the paint job , recycled paper for the box and the realisation of the Protocols for energy saving and global warming prevention?

You've said that Mekaneck, when made, would feature alternate heads, one with a normal neck and the other with an extended neck, because you wanted to avoid the waist-twist action feature of the original. However, couldn't you give Mekaneck an extendable neck simply by making it like a telescopic radio aerial? The telescopic bit could retract into a cavity in the middle of his chest where the neck hole would be, and could be pulled out to extend his neck to the extra length as needed. All you would lose is ab articulation, but it would still allow the character to have his trademark ability (just like Tri-Klops had) while keeping fans happy with this "action feature" that doesn't hinder design.

Why does the Goddess ship with exactly the same He-Man accessoires that are already available with He-Man himself (as well as his re-release, the axe even being packed with BA He-Man as well)? Bluish repaints similiar to the minicomic portrayal could've worked as well, and at the same time avoid loose collectors being left with accessoires they already have.

Will the number of days it takes a figure (monthly or bonus) to sell out determin if it's resells?

Example:A figure sells out in 3 days comes back with a high production as compared to a figure that sells out in 7 days may not even be put up for resell or even a figure that sells out in 5 days but comes back in a limited amount.

Is there any chance that you will switch to a different vendor than Digital River? Since you guys hired them, every mistake they make is a mistake you guys are responsible for and they have made a lot of mistakes since the very beginning of this line.

Subscription charges for international customers

International customers based in the EU have been levied with a tax for the October figure but not the September figure. Digital River's justification, as per the standard email being sent to international customers is that:

For international orders, pursuant to the Digital VAT Directive, as of
1st July 2003, European customers will be charged VAT on all
downloadable digital products and services, including software at 15.0%.

Can you please explain how a collectible toy figure constitutes a downloadable digital product or service? If as i suspect, this charge has been levied in error, when can we expect a refund?

Could we see a re-release of the spirit of Greyskull since he was such a pressence in the ealy mini comics? The packageing would be different from the two from sdcc so it wouldn't take away from their uniqness.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been in the MotUC loop from the get-go and am confused by a contradiction in the available information regarding your reissues.

from: Mattycollector.com on Facebook - MOTU Update - Friday, March 20, 2009 at 3:40pm
"And we will rerelease all of the sell out figures in time (may not be until 2010/2011) but we wouldn’t want anyone’s collection to be lacking!"

from: He-Man.org - Answers to WTFWTK 2.24 October 11, 2009 2:35 pm - Poe Ghostal
Q: “Is the plan for MOTUC to keep re-releasing figures after He-Man and Skeletor, and will their quantities be more limited than their initial release?”
A: “We have to see how the re-release of He-Man and Skeletor go before committing to any additional re-releases”

Could you possibly clarify? I understand that your products, website, and service are evolving, but I’m hoping to better anticipate which figures are more likely to be reissued to more efficiently and cost-effectively catch my collection up. There are no Eterniacs out there more devout than me, but there are quite a few with much better timing.

BA He-man

With the recent "excitement" this month in regards to mass confusion, delays and miscommunication, has Matty given any serious thought to breaking up the sale dates? IE Ghostbusters on the 1st, MotUC on the 15, Bonus Figures on the 20th something like that.

Toyguru, I was wondering, based on a quote from a previous Q&A session, if you have had much experience playing with or demonstrating how the MOTU Original Webstor's back pack works.

In this quote you imply that we, the collectors and fans are jumping to a conclusion based on this statement which was located both in Toyfare adds, MOTUC descriptions, Mattycollector.com and from your quote below - Webstor’s pack “works like you remember.” I own a fresh from package original Webstor and I can most assuredly state that there is a difference between the original "working" and the Classics version not working at all. To finish I will include your direct quote that basically tells your consumers that they do not have a working understanding of the word "work."

Quote taken from round 2.25 - We have been very clear that no figures in MOTUC will have “action features.” Webstor’s pack “works like you remember” just as Mek-a-neck’s neck will work “as you remember.” When we get to Mek, we will include an alternate head with a stretched neck, but not a twist waist that raises the head. This is a good example of fans jumping to their own conclusions and being disappointed when those conclusions are not met.